I signed up my daughter for the Expository Writing I and will be doing the assessment with her. Would the Year Four Mastery Evaluation (last 18 pgs of the download) be enough to gauge her abilities? Thanks! Maria

Wow Marie...it's like we are dealing with the same issue! I was about to post a similar question. Have you considered or ruled out any Auditory Processing Disorder or deficit? My 9 y.o. son has APD (along with SPD/dyspraxia and VPD). I wonder IF perhaps your child is also experiencing visual processing deficits that are affecting his writing abilities. I wrote a lengthy reply to another query on Auditory Processing issues. You may want to check my reply there OR I can post it here. As far as answering your question, I knew what I was dealing with because we've been on this journey for a few years now. I bought only First Language Lessons 4 to try to use it on BOTH my 9 y.o. and my 11 yo (neurotypical child). The oldest just left public school last June and I noticed enough gaps that I wanted to cover. Well, he just couldn't keep up with the writing. So I'm having him do only copywork from whatever source he enjoys (he loves science, so we're using the Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia for this purpose). I also started with some cursive work but that's like pulling teeth. He also does some reading on his own. Frankly, I don't expect much at this point because he's really resisting it, making it counter-productive. However, he LOVES history and is engaged with SOTW Vol. 1, so I'm focusing on that plus math (his weak area). My challenge at this point is taking my 11 y.o. as far as she can go while keeping my 9 y.o. at his pace. The gap between the two is quite significant because of his poor fine-motor skills and his refusal to write. He's currently receiving vision therapy to address the VPD. Hope this answered some of your questions. Maria

Hello K! My son (now 9) has APD and was diagnosed at 6.5 years of age. I glanced the previous responses and noticed that no one has mentioned a few good references for APD information. I will post those at the end of this reply. First of all, not all SLPs know HOW to work with APD kids. The school's SLP where my son was being evaluated for an IEP could only hint at ASD!! So did the school psychologist! Despite the fact that his sensory integration OT had been treating him for over a year with no signs of autism. None of the medical professionals ever suspected autism but that seems to be the schools' favorite IEP criteria. Anyhow, you can look for an SLP that has extensive experience working with APD kids OR you can ask an audiologist who specializes in APD, to give you some references. This is what I had to do to find the right SLP for my son. While it's true that he's too young to be tested, I know of MANY cases where audiologists who specialize in APD have been able to evaluate younger kiddos. It depends on the severity of the APD. In our case, his OT ran a SCAN-C test that showed significant auditory processing delays. Enough to warrant an APD evaluation. I found a specialist in APD evals and told her about my son's case (SPD plus serious speech delays, and had the SCAN-C results) and she agreed to see him at 6.5 y.o. You should be able to look at www.asha.org for a good audiologist (CCC certified) that specializes in APD and is knowledgeable of the latest research. We used Earobics at home. He also received iLS therapy through his sensory integration OT. I did homeschool him at the time and was able to hone in on phonemic awareness by using www.STARFALL.com and also games from www.FileFolderFun.com. I also found Preschool Prep Meet the Sight Words DVDs in our library and he LOVED them. Great visuals and sound quality. Last but not least, many people with APD are strong VISUAL-SPATIAL learners and respond very well to subjects presented in multiple ways, especially visually and kinesthetically. I highly recommend reading "Upside Down Brilliance" by Linda Kreger Silverman for lots of ideas on teaching to the visual-spatial learner. Here is ONE of her websites.... http://www.visualspatial.org/about.php Okay...it's getting late. Here are some books which may be useful: When the Brain Can't Hear by Terry Bellis The Mislabeled Child by the Eides team (husband and wife) A friend of mine also created the following page with tons of information about APD. Hope it clarifies some of your questions. http://www.squidoo.com/capd Again, I would try to find the right SLP for your child and possibly look for another audiologist who may be willing to evaluate your son sooner rather than later. When it comes to remedial therapies for APD, TIME is of essence. Blessings and good luck! Maria

"but obviously the reading problems have effected his writing abilities". Have you had him evaluated for visual processing disorder by any chance? Fine-motor delays (including writing difficulty) can be attributed to visual processing deficits in some children. This is usually evaluated by a Developmental (also known as Behavioral) Optometrist. It's very different than a "regular" eye check-up done by an ophthalmologist. Schools do not look at this issue because they are limited to conditions listed on the DSM. You would have to do this on your own. My son was diagnosed with Visual Processing Disorder (by a Dev. Optometrist) at 6.5 years old. He had depth perception deficits SO significant that he couldn't gauge where the tip of the pencil met the paper. Thus, he refused to do what most kids find pleasurable (coloring with crayons or finger-paints, doodling, tracing or drawing). Your son's ability to read may also be linked to an issue of visual processing. For example, he could be experiencing significant visual fatigue due to poor eye-teaming ("tracking"). My son experienced amazing progress in reading AND writing after a few months of vision therapy. The investment (usually not covered by insurance) has been worth it. Here is the link to the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD) for additional information, in case you care to read some more. Feel free to email me with any questions you may have. http://www.covd.org/?page=Symptoms Maria

I'm new to homeschooling and the WTM model. Are these books designed for the high school learner? Thanks, Maria

I will get them (hopefully used at bargain price) and will probably ask my very crafty 6th grader to help her brother along. He looks up to her for everything!

This will be my 11 y.o. daughter's first year homeschooling. She has always been very creative (plays, arts, crafts, sewing, etc.) and I would love some recommendations on art curricula for her. She has great fine-motor skills and loves almost all media (clay, fabrics, paper, canvas). I'm thinking of a guide that would help me present all various expressions of art or an activity guide that would cover as much media as possible. Or perhaps a full art curriculum. Thanks in advance! Maria

You may also want to look into Plaza Sesamo as an audio-visual aid to learn. This video (6 min.) shows the vowels. It's colorful and fun and does plenty of repetition. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7eNhdngYnI

I'm a native Spanish speaker and learned to read using the Cartilla Fonetica. The link below shows what one of the editions, although I have a slightly different one at home. As you know there are only 5 vowel sounds in the Spanish language and the "Cartilla Fonetica" blends them with consonants from the easiest phonemes "ma me mi mo mu" (ie. "mi mama me ama") to more difficult ones "ca co cu que qui". I haven't checked the link in its entirety but there are many links available online. It's very inexpensive. http://www.atrappo.com/app/mini-cartilla-leer-1-demo/389878/

A million thanks to ALL who replied! KathyJo: I'm interested. I'll send you a message shortly. Thanks!

Thank you ladies! We do have maps and I plan on getting a globe, as well. He does love geography but I'm not sure he would be into some of the other hands-on projects. I do love the idea of tying the reading to an online reference source since he loves to use the computer. Thanks again!

I'm very new to the group, so let me introduce myself briefly. I have a 9 y.o. son with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD), SPD/dyspraxia and Visual Processing Disorder (VPD). We did homeschool for K. He attended public school for 1st and most of 2d grade. He's also a very strong visual-spatial learner. I have decided to work in closing his gaps in math. He's pretty much in 3rd grade level for every other subject. I'll be doing TT for my neuro-typical 6th grader but TT starts in 3d grade and my son is not there yet. I plan on using worksheets and games from www.enchantedlearning.com and from other sources. He will have to be exposed piece-meal because his resistance to math is monumental. :( He did Time4Learning (an online curriculum) for a few months last semester (after I pulled him out of public school). He liked it but some of the characters spoke very fast and the sound quality wasn't as good which caused some problems due to his APD. I will be doing Times Tales for some multiplication this year. We just explored their website and he did the free trial successfully, so I know that user interface is good for him (visually and auditorily). A few questions for you: How old is your daughter? What is her learning style? Visual-spatial, kinesthetic, or auditory-sequential? Is she at grade level or has some gaps? Once you know your child's learning style, then you can determine the best alternatives. I belong to a FB group - http://www.theeducationalfreedomcoalition.org/2013/04/who-is-not-aligned.html - that developed a fantastic database (that you can sort by subject). The master list includes curricula that's independent of Common Core Standards as well as some that are aligned and/or correlated. Hope this opens the door to evaluating other math programs better suited for your child. Good luck! Maria

Hi! This is my first year homeschooling both my kids (3rd and 6th grader). Would like to start with SOTW Volume 1 for history. How indispensable is the Activity Book? Would lessons be missing good information if I skip it? I have a 9 y.o. boy (with dyspraxia and fine-motor delay) who doesn't want to do much with his hands. Lately, he has been reluctant to do any kind of manual work (i.e. cutting with scissors, glueing, etc.) and I'm afraid to buy too many books from the start, only to have him reject them. Thanks in advance! Maria